The consultation workshop on Joint Annual Health Review (JAHR) 2016 was held on July 25, 2017 in Hanoi by the Ministry of Health (MOH). Assoc. Prof. Pham Le Tuan, Vice Minister of Health, attended and chaired the workshop. He also delivered the opening remarks to the representatives from Departments, agencies, universities, hospitals, institutes of the MOH; the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs  (MOLISA); the Vietnam Association of the Elderly; local and international organizations.

     
Vice Minister Pham Le Tuan delivered the opening remarks at the workshop

In his opening remark, Vice Minister Pham Le Tuan emphasized that since 2007, the MOH and the Health Partnership Group (HPG) had agreed to jointly develop a JAHRper year. The purpose of this Review is to support the annual planning of the MOH and provide MOH with a basis for the selection of key issues in cooperation and dialogue between the Vietnamese health sector and the Development Partners.

Similar to the structure of other previous JAHR, the 2016 JAHR consists of 2 parts: the 1st part on briefupdate of the health system and the 2nd part on aging and health care for the elderly in Vietnam. The 1st part of JAHR 2016 will focus onupdate of new policies and mechanisms in the health system which were issued in 2015, summary of big changes to building blocks of the health system and update of health performance indicators. The thematic section of JAHR 2016 will focus on the topic "Population aging and health care for the elderly in Vietnam".

Vice Minister Pham Le Tuan added that the year of 2017 is the second year to implement the Plan on the protection, care and improvement of people’s health in the new situation (2016-2020). The MOH was developing the Resolution on the protection, care and improvement of people’s health in the new situation which is planned to submit to Vietnam's Central Party Committee in its 6^th Plenary Session; developing an Action Plan to implement the 2030 Agenda of the United Nations for Sustainable Development in the health sector; participating in the development of global and regional policies in the health sector at the multilateral forums and so on. In this situation, JAHR 2016 was developed for the purpose of analyzing the situation of the health system in Viet Nam, and providing MOH with the evidences and solutions for development of the system.

Vice Minister Pham Le Tuan expressed his great appreciation for the valuable contributions from various Administrations, Departments, institutes and units of the MOH and other related Ministries and sectors, especially the coordinators during the development of this Report. He also mention his high appreciation for the technical support and effective feedback of members of HPG and international organizations and individuals, as well as financial support from the Viet Nam Country office of the World Health Organization, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Delegation of the European Union to Viet Nam.

(Source: JAHR Coordination group)